Daniel 8:3

“Then I lifted up mine eyes, etc.] To see what was to be seen in this place, where he in the vision was brought; he lifted up the eyes of his understanding, being enlightened by the vision of prophecy, and the eyes of his body, to which objects of corporeal things formed in the fancy were represented: and saw, and, behold; he saw something wonderful in a visionary way, and which struck his mind, and raised his attention: there stood before the river; the river Ulai, near Shushan, the palace, the seat of the kings of Persia, to the east: a ram, which had two horns; a symbol of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, signified by the two horns, (<270820>Daniel 8:20), an emblem of power and…”

“two horns--The "two" ought not to be in italics, as if it were not in the original; for it is expressed by the Hebrew dual. "Horn" in the East is the symbol of power and royalty. one . . . higher than . . . other . . . the higher came up last--Persia, which was of little note till Cyrus' time, became then ascendant over Media, the more ancient kingdom. Darius was sixty-two years old (Dan 5:31) when he began to reign; during his short reign of two years, being a weak king (Dan 6:1-3), the government was almost entirely in Cyrus' hands. Hence HERODOTUS does not mention Darius; but XENOPHON does under the name of Cyaxares II. The "ram" here corresponds to the "bear" (Dan 7:5), symbolizing…”

“Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw - And saw in vision, or there seemed to be before me. There stood before the river - On the bank of the river. A ram which had two horns - There can be no error in explaining the design of this symbol, for in Daniel 8:20 it is expressly said that it denoted the two kings of Media and Persia. The united power of the kingdom was denoted by the ram itself; the fact that there were two powers or kingdoms combined, by the two horns of the ram. And the two horns were high - Both indicating great power. But one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last - The higher horn springing up last denotes Persia, that became the more mighty power of the two, so…”

“8:3-4 Two long horns implies that there were two major nations in this kingdom represented by a ram (see 8:20-21). • God allowed the nation to do as it pleased; God was still in control (cp. Isa 45:1-4).”

“I lifted: Dan 10:5; Num 24:2; Jos 5:13; Ch1 21:16; Zac 1:18, Zac 2:1, Zac 5:1, Zac 5:5, Zac 5:9, Zac 6:1 a ram: The Medo-Persian empire, of which a ram was the ensign; and a ram's head with horns, one higher than the other, is still to be seen on the ruins of Persepolis. Dan 8:20, Dan 2:39, Dan 7:5 one: Media was the more ancient kingdom; but Persia, after Cyrus, was the most considerable. Dan 5:31, Dan 6:28; Ezr 1:2, Ezr 4:5; Est 1:3; Isa 13:17, Isa 21:2, Isa 44:28; Jer 51:11 the other: Heb. the second Daniel 8:4”